Madeleine McCann: Woman who claimed to be missing Briton has phone seized by police
A woman who claimed to be missing Madeleine McCann has hit back after it emerged a phone was seized by police
@amijuliawandelt/ PA
A woman who claimed to be missing Madeleine McCann has hit back after it emerged a phone was seized by police during a search in California.
Julia Wendell has spoken out after officers searched the house she was staying in and took a phone as part of "investigative duties".
The phone had been voluntarily handed in and the property searched but there were no further details about the reasons behind the search, according to RadarOnline.
Wendell went viral online with her original Instagram account iammadeleinemccan having more than one million followers before it was deactivated, after claiming to be Maddie who disappeared on a holiday in Portugal in May 2007.
Julia Wendell has spoken out after officers searched the house she was staying in
Orange County Sheriff's Department spokesman Sgt. Mike Woodroof said: "Our investigation is taking a deep look into it and we’re going to let them do their investigative duties and then from that point let the judicial system take over – if it needs to.”
The 21-year-old moved to California with the help of private investigator and celebrity medium Dr Fia Johansson after she received death threats in Poland.
Johansson was given power of attorney over Wendell and appeared alongside her on US talk show Dr Phil.
After the DNA test proved she was not Madeleine, she returned to Poland and has said that Johansson was "trying to scare" her adding that she’s no longer sure whether the “medium” ever wanted to help at all.
On her Instagram post, she wrote: "I would like you to know that there is no open, active investigation about me in Poland.
"I will not allow people to make false accusations about me and I also will not accept people spreading lies so you should know that I will never give up and I will find out the truth."
She added: "When I first met Fia for the first time I thought she wanted to help me. Now I know she wants only new followers, new clients."
In response, Dr Johansson responded saying: “Julia – I wish you the best despite what you say. We had an eventful journey, but like all good things there is always an ending, sometimes happy and sometimes sad."
Wendell has pledged to take a fresh DNA test after the original test proved she was mostly Polish and could not be Madeleine.
Julia has apologised to Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry McCann following the DNA results
PA
Writing on her Instagram page, she said: "I want to do this because I just want to do this, and I don't even have to explain why but I think everyone knows why I want to do this. When the results come, I will let you know everything.”
She has also apologised to Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry McCann expressing her disappointment over the results.
Scotland Yard police investigating what happened are set to be given another £300,000 to keep the case going.